Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden accused President Donald Trump of “a life-and-death betrayal of the American people” hours after journalist Bob Woodward revealed ahead of the publication of his new book, “Rage,” that Trump had concealed the true threat posed by coronavirus.
While campaigning in Michigan on Wednesday, Biden pointed to Trump telling Woodward in a recorded February interview that the virus was more deadly than the flu, airborne and highly contagious.
“He knew it and purposely played it down. Worse, he lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied,” Biden said about the threat posed by the virus, which has now left more than 185,000 Americans dead.
“It’s beyond despicable. It’s a dereliction of duty. It’s a disgrace,” Biden said. “He failed to do his job on purpose. It was a life-and-death betrayal of the American people.”
Trump’s comments downplaying the virus come as he is trailing Biden in national polls just three weeks from the first debate. They follow last week’s report in The Atlantic — confirmed in part by other news outlets but vehemently denied by Trump — that the President had called those wounded and killed at war “losers” and “suckers.”
Biden told autoworkers Wednesday that Trump “has broken just about every promise he’s ever made to the American worker.”